NEWS ARCHIVE

Tens of thousands lose power from Greensboro to Wilkesboro after storms

Wilkes County among hardest hit

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Updated: 12:56 PM EDT Jul 9, 2016

WXII u local viewer

Downed tree and live power line on Colonial Drive in North Wilkesboro. EMS officials recommend avoiding live power lines and calling the power company instead.

SOURCE: WXII u local viewer

Tens of thousands lose power from Greensboro to Wilkesboro after storms

Wilkes County among hardest hit

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Updated: 12:56 PM EDT Jul 9, 2016

Thousands of homes and businesses remained without power more than 18 hours after a line of storms started downing trees and causing other damage.

Duke Energy officials reported more than 14,000 outages--nearly half of its customer base--in Wilkes County as of 12:30 p.m. Saturday. More than 3,000 outages remained in Forsyth County, while Yadkin and Randolph counties had more than 1,500 outages.

The storms started making an impact around 5 p.m. Friday in the Virginia border counties. National Weather Service officials would ultimately receive storm reports from nearly a dozen counties, mostly of downed trees but also from some seeing dime-sized hail.

Smith Reynolds Airport recorded a 46 mph wind gust Friday evening, while a 63 mph gust was reported at Elk River Airport in Watauga County. NWS officials received a report of three injuries in Watauga County, though the extent of the injuries wasn't known.

Wilkes County EMS officials said around noon Saturday that agencies are still responding to incidents from Friday's storms. Director Eric Morrison said people should avoid downed power lines and be careful while removing downed trees.

Duke officials haven't released a timetable for when all power might be restored.

The entire WXII viewing area was under a severe thunderstorm watch at one point Friday night.